Earnings beats from UBS, Peugeot fire up European stocks

LONDON (Reuters) - Strong results from bank UBS, car company PSA and chipmaker AMS propelled European stocks higher on Tuesday, breaking a three-day slide as the earnings season delivered a boost to the market.

Some of this year’s worst-performing sectors - autos and banks - jumped thanks to these solid updates.

The pan-European STOXX 600 accelerated gains to touch its highest level in more than a month, ending up 0.9 percent, with heavyweight UBS (UBSG.S) among the biggest boosts, up 4.3 percent after its second-quarter profit topped expectations.

The stock hit its highest level since June 2008, a 10-year high, and UBS analysts said the results would likely trigger upgrades to consensus full-year earnings of about 30 percent.

PSA provided a boost to the autos sector .SXAP which has been a main victim of U.S. threats of higher tariffs on car imports. The sector index jumped 2.6 percent, second only to basic materials .SXPP which climbed 4.8 percent on stronger metals prices.

In an earnings season where investors are focusing on companies’ outlook, guidance from several of them was particularly strong, driving sharp share price gains.

Austrian chipmaker and iPhone supplier AMS (AMS.S) jumped as much as 13 percent before paring some gains after the company said new orders would secure strong growth in the second half, and reported higher than expected second-quarter revenue.

A DAX logo is pictured at the trading floor of the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany December 29, 2017. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo

“AMS has helped quell widespread concerns in the market regarding Apple’s ramp of 3D sensing components for its new iPhones in the second half, by providing very strong guidance for Q3 2018,” Liberum analyst Janardan Menon said.

Overall second-quarter earnings growth for the STOXX 600 was expected to come in at 8.1 percent year-on-year, stronger than the first quarter.

“Positive European earnings are continuing a theme we have seen with the U.S. over the last few weeks which should help soothe concerns that the divergence between the U.S. and Europe would have translated into even wider discrepancies in EPS growth,” Edward Park, investment director at Brooks Macdonald, said.

French prepaid meal voucher and card provider Edenred (EDEN.PA) touched record highs and was last up 10.2 percent, after predicting it would beat annual growth goals this year.

In the debit column, shares in electrical components supplier Spectris (SXS.L) tumbled more than 9 percent, with analysts disappointed the company provided no further details on cost saving programs.